Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen: It Lives!

The Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen from WotC (as opposed to the largely unpopular Tyranny of Dragons one from Gale Force 9) is due out this month. WotC's Trevor Kidd returned to the office after the holiday break, and provided this photo which shows that the screen exists and is ready for lift-off! Plus, a shot of the interior!

Priced at $14.95 and releasing on January 20th -- "Manage your campaign with this indispensable Dungeon Master accessory for the world’s greatest roleplaying game. The red dragon Thraxata the Flamefiend and her kobold minions confront a party of intrepid adventurers, who protect their ranger as she attempts to finish the fight by using a legendary arrow of dragon slaying meant specifically for this red wyrm. This durable, four-panel Deluxe Dungeon Master’s Screen, lavishly adorned with illustrations inside and out, will enchant and inspire players and the Dungeon Master. Its landscape design allows the Dungeon Master to easily see beyond and reach over the screen, even as it keeps die rolls and notes hidden from players. Tables inside provide essential support for the three pillars of play–combat, exploration, and interaction–to Dungeon Masters of all skill levels."

For more D&D schedule information, look right here.

Photo from dicejockey.com

Photo by Luke Niedner
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[Grainger]

Which is definitely a mindset that I concur with. I've seen DMs with portrait screens, and it's a little too Wizard of Oz for my taste. Portrait screens let me see my players, and especially the table.

Gygax used to sit at his office desk, his players on a sofa at the other end of the room. He used to pull out the drawers of a filing cabinet to block their view of him, so his pronouncements came from a disembodied voice. The players weren't allowed to talk directly to him - they had to pass their plans to him via a "caller" (a player who summarised the party's wishes). I've never tried it, but one could argue that it's the original way of playing!

I agree though - I prefer landscape screens. Especially as the set-up of our game (we sit on sofas around a large coffee table, and I prefer sitting on the floor with my books spread out nearby) would mean a tall screen would push me towards the aforementioned Gygaxian style of DMing.

 

[delericho]

I wish they'd package DM screens with a short adventure or something -- I don't use a DM screen, so except for adding another item to my D&D collection there's no reason for me to buy it.

They used to do that back in the day - IIRC some D&D screens came with a short adventure, some of the White Wolf screens came with "here's some stuff that got cut from the Core Rulebook", the Spelljammer screen came with some nice ship tokens, and so on.

However, the problem with many of these things is that the "something else" you get turns out to be pretty crappy, due to pressures of space and cost. In which case it's better to bundle nothing at all and save the money, and accept that some people won't buy, rather than 'force' those who want a screen to also take a worthless adventure with it.

 

[Grainger]

The Star Wars screens (for the Fantasy Flight system) come with a short adventure and (very brief) new rules - e.g. you get simple squad combat rules with one of the screens. It's not ideal, as you usually want one thing or the other - a screen or a module. The screens themselves are excellent, though; they would double as nuclear shelters - gorgeous ones, at that.

Some of the old TSR screens were annoying, as they had sales blurb on the back (it was the back of the packet in the shop - see upthread for examples) and the packaging front cover was part of the outer screen (again, see upthread)! Not nearly as good as having a nice picture (or even information) facing the players.

 

[RichGreen]

They used to do that back in the day - IIRC some D&D screens came with a short adventure, some of the White Wolf screens came with "here's some stuff that got cut from the Core Rulebook", the Spelljammer screen came with some nice ship tokens, and so on.

Those Spelljammer ships were great! Sadly, I think I have lost mine.

 

[Mark CMG]

I like the Something Happens table too!

Maybe you'd like this -

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/100971/30-Things-Can-Happen

 

[aramis erak]

The Star Wars screens (for the Fantasy Flight system) come with a short adventure and (very brief) new rules - e.g. you get simple squad combat rules with one of the screens. It's not ideal, as you usually want one thing or the other - a screen or a module. The screens themselves are excellent, though; they would double as nuclear shelters - gorgeous ones, at that.

Some of the old TSR screens were annoying, as they had sales blurb on the back (it was the back of the packet in the shop - see upthread for examples) and the packaging front cover was part of the outer screen (again, see upthread)! Not nearly as good as having a nice picture (or even information) facing the players.

FFG's screens for 40K also had expansion materials in them. And FFG's screens are essentially hardcover material 4-panel beauties.

The One Ring's screen is bundled with the Laketown booklet. Laketown wasn't big enough to be a full up product, and the screen's pretty good.

The Judges Guild D&D and Traveller screens were pretty nice for the era. Just a screen, but man, what a screen.

The WFRP 1E screen by Hogshead came with the expanded critical tables and the fumble tables.... which really upped the gore factor. And the screen was pretty good, a sturdy and beautiful beast, with useful tables.

The only games for which my screens came with adventures were AD&D and WEG Star Wars...